The Ship Of Dreams
by phantomstimeturner
Summary: It was not the ship we wanted, but the ship we needed. I present to you...Talter.


"Can you guys just stop for like, five minutes?" Paige complained. "You're fighting like little

kids!"

It was a slow day for Team Scorpion, so they were all cooped up in the garage without even a case to distract them. Most of them could handle a little boredom, but well…Walter and Tim…

They'd gotten into a high-stakes chess match. Tim had lost, so now it was a physical fight on the stairs. Before any of that had started, they'd been screaming at each other, and no one in the garage was willing to take this much longer.

"It was Walter's fault," Tim lied.

"If Tim could simply learn to accept defeat in a reasonable way, none of this would have happened," Walter argued in a clipped tone.

Paige sighed. She hated playing mom to her boyfriend and…whatever Walter was to her. "Walter, come on. Don't you have…research?"

"My most recent experiment requires direct sunlight." Walter tilted his head toward the window, where you could clearly see the pouring rain. "Therefore, any advancement has been delayed."

"Tim, uh, why don't you work on making some of your famous…thing!" she suggested hopefully, eager to get those two away from each other.

"Didn't you see what Walter did to the oven?" Tim snorted.

"I did not do that!" Walter protested. "That was your fault, for knocking over the-"

"Enough!" Paige interrupted. "So you're going to keep killing each other. Great. God, Tim, sometimes I wonder if you're Walter's boyfriend or mine!"

"I assure you this is strictly platonic," Walter stated very quickly.

Tim straightened his shoulders. "Paige, here, I'll spend time with you today. We can, uh, shop for a new oven."

She shook her head, exasperated. "No no, go ahead. You guys like fighting and annoying me, I get it. Sadly, that's a problem I frequently encounter when I get a boyfriend."

Walter and Tim exchanged a look. Paige was the one thing they had in common; both of them cared a lot about her, and clearly she was upset. "You're not looking well," Walter observed. "Headache?"

She nodded, pressing a hand to her forehead.

"You're welcome," Tim told her.

"I'm dumping you."

 _Great,_ Walter thought. A smile flashed on his face without him meaning to. He quickly got his expression under control. "Well, uh, very sorry about that. Toby has some of that 'extra strength' stuff if you know what I mean, and he'd probably share. But, anyway, we'll try to stay out of hearing range."

She smiled weakly. "Walter O'Brien, you never stop surprising me. Thanks for the advice."

As she left, Walter turned back to Tim. "Your relationship is beautiful."

Tim shrugged his incredibly muscular shoulders. "Uh, not really. I'm pretty sure she actually just dumped me."

"Really?" Walter asked.

"I don't know, maybe it was a joke, maybe not," Tim said helplessly. Truth be told, things hadn't been all that great between him and Paige lately, and he could only blame it on man-periods for so long before she realized something was up.

"Don't worry, she'll come around," Walter said. His voice was empty; he didn't really mean it.

"We'll see," Tim said flatly. "Can we _not_ do this? I talk about this stuff enough with Paige and Toby."

Walter agreed quickly. "Of course. But still, we should follow her wishes- no more loud noise."

The best place, logically, was Walter's room upstairs. Walt hastily shoved some of his stuff out of the way, and then sat down in his desk chair. He liked desk chairs. Spinning in them gave him something to do even if he was feeling really awkward.

Like now. Definitely like now.

They'd been in the middle of a pretty good fight, but you couldn't just start and stop like it was a movie. Paige had ruined the entire vibe, and it was very difficult to not be bitter about it. Walter was doing a terrible job of pretending.

"I…hate you?" Tim tried.

Walter shook his head. "Scientifically, that won't work. To start a real, good fight, at least one of us needs to be legitimately angry."

"Damn." Tim sat down, looking a little disappointed. Lately, their fights had been less true battles and more…a game. Friendly banter and occasionally punching each other in the face. It was really a great arrangement.

"So…" They didn't really have any conversations outside of the fights. He didn't know where to start. "How's Paige?"

"You keep talking about her," Tim said bitterly. "And I know why."

"No, I don't think you do," Walter said steadily. He couldn't say anything more.

"For someone incapable of human emotion, you seem to be pretty interested _in my girlfriend,"_ Tim told him icily. "I thought we were getting to be friends, Walter. I thought this was over."

"It _is_ over!" Walt protested. "I'm not in love with Paige."

Tim snorted disbelieving. "Right. That's why you always look so excited whenever we get into an argument."

Walter looked down. He couldn't lie. He never had been able to; that was so…human. "Please believe me when I say this. I don't love her. Maybe I never did."

"Sure."

It was evident from the tone that Tim still didn't believe. Walter's heart sank. There was no way he'd be able to get out of this without a confrontation. The truth (and Walter) would have to come out.

He scrambled for a way to get out of this situation. The first thing he came up with was, naturally, was to tackle Tim and punch him in the face.

"WALTER!" Tim roared. He hadn't expected or wanted this, but he had to fight back. He punched Walter back and started twisting his arm.

This went on for quite a while- attacking each other, yelling insults into the other's ear. Walter could feel bruises forming already, but the idea of stopping never even crossed his mind. He let out a fierce war cry and attempted to kick Tim in the crotch.

"Everything alright up here?"

It was Toby's voice, but when Walter looked up, no one was there. He cursed himself for being so stupid- the intercom! How could he have forgotten?

"Everything is fine," Tim replied through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I get it, I should leave you alone," Toby snickered. "PAIGE! GET OVER HERE!"

Walter's cheeks turned red. This was awkward enough already, but having Tim on top of him didn't help. He propped himself up on his elbows and tried to get out, but felt a strong hand on his chest. "You're not getting out that easy, O'Brien."

"Tim, let me up," Walter protested. He had held his own in the fight but in the end, Tim was stronger than him. They couldn't _all_ be ex-Navy Seals.

"Really? I didn't think you wanted that," Tim said sarcastically.

A shiver went through Walter's entire body. He pushed harder, but Tim was right- he didn't want that. He would've been content staying there for a long time, with Tim's weight on top on him, and he felt all those things he'd pretended for so long he wasn't feeling.

"How long's it gonna take?" Tim asked breathlessly. "Before you admit that this is what you wanted?"

Walter gulped and looked away nervously. "How long have you known?"

"Ages," Tim told him. He relaxed a little, but still didn't let Walter up. "Wanted to say something the entire time. You must know what that's like."

Of course he did. Ever since this whole thing started (Walter couldn't bear to put "when I started falling for Tim" into real words) it had been a constant struggle- confess, or keep quiet? He'd always chosen the latter, but maybe that was a mistake.

He didn't have anymore time to think before he felt another pair of lips on his own. He groaned a bit and tilted his chin upward, making it easier for Tim. He'd waited for too long, for this moment right here. He wouldn't trade it for the world.

"Holy Jesus oh my god what is going on?!"

Walter recognized that scream. Paige. He shoved Tim off him and got to his feet quickly. "Ah, Paige! This isn't what it looks like!"

Tim got up too, and put an arm around Walt's waist. "I beg to differ. Paige, this is _exactly_ what it looks like."


End file.
